Crossing the River
by Shade Embry
Summary: Songfiction. The best friend Jack's ever had is still fighting the tide to get to him.


TITLE: Crossing the River  
  
AUTHOR: Brittany "Thespis" Frederick  
  
E-MAIL: baltimorelt@yahoo.com  
  
CATEGORY: Songfiction  
  
SPOILERS: Up to the most recent US episode  
  
ORIGINAL CHARACTER BIO: Liz Rycoff is CTU's Chief of Technology (Jamey's supervisor), and close friends with Jack and George Mason. She has formed a political alliance with Mason, who wants her to move to District and work for him, but her loyalty to Jack keeps her back.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I downloaded this song to score my upcoming third science- fiction novel, but it also fits the relationship between Jack and Liz perfectly. Enjoy!  
  
RECOMMENDED LISTENING: "Crossing the River" by The Devlins  
  
  
  
What exactly is the friendship between Jack and Liz? Most people couldn't classify it.  
  
*Something tells me I can trust in you  
  
There's no pretense in the things you do*  
  
They may as well have known each other for years, the way they acted with each other, the way they acted together toward the world. When Jack came in at midnight, Liz was already there working. As he headed to his office, a quick glance passed between them that once again reaffirmed what they always know: that they were both heading into something together.  
  
*So much water under this bridge  
  
And I'm standing here at the water's edge  
  
Looking into your eyes*  
  
After Walsh briefed him, Jack felt that initial confidence fade, surrounded by bad memories and paramount fears. He had only to walk out of the room and cross the floor and look at Liz, who nodded her faith in him, to get it back again.  
  
*I'm crossing the river to get to you  
  
I'm crossing the river  
  
Crossing the river*  
  
And it wasn't like Liz was simply Jack's sounding board. Through the hours, she worked steadily with Jamey, and Jamey's suicide struck her hard. All she could think of was where her mistake might be, and the one person she really needed was Jack. She blinked away tears as she thought of him, rescuing his family, what a hero he was.  
  
She stood alone, but he was never far from her.  
  
*You had the longing of a broken heart  
  
Shine your light in a room that was frozen dark  
  
Looking into your eyes (looking into your eyes)*  
  
When Jack got the news that Jamey was the mole, the first thought through his mind for just a flash of a second was Liz's agony. So you could say the perceptiveness is reciprocal.  
  
And with Jack gone so long, and Liz having an office-based job, that kept her afloat as well. She pinned her hopes to news of Jack's progress, and though she never showed much of it, she was hanging on every ring of the phone.  
  
Waiting for him.  
  
And when he came back…  
  
*I'm crossing the river (crossing the river) to get to you  
  
I'm crossing the river (crossing the river)  
  
And this time I'll make it through*  
  
She went on the Nash surveillance team, of course, and proved her worth to Jack once again by holding her ground and standing behind him even as Mason was yelling at him on the phone in the next room.  
  
You see, Liz chewed out the surveillance technicians for not spotting the letter opener, not anticipating the disaster. She had them sent back to CTU, where thanks to her friend George Mason some hour later, they were promptly reamed *again* and then fired.  
  
Then she walked into the next room after that session, grabbed Jack's cell phone, and told Mason to leave him the hell alone before hanging up on him. After that, he *still* did what she asked him to by firing the surveillance guys.  
  
And Jack? Jack just somehow knew it would work out for him because she was present in the room to cover what he didn't have time to think about.  
  
*With your faith and your arms open wide  
  
I see you there on the other side  
  
I'm crossing the river of fear and pride*  
  
Despite how short-lived their reunion was, Liz never stepped back out of Jack's life today. Once he handed the ball to her she kept it and used it. She was as worried about Teri and Kim as he was, and disappointed she couldn't go to the safehouse to meet them herself. But she did have other things to do. Like beat up on herself.  
  
She's always felt responsible for his defense and protection. She beat up on herself for not being there when Teddy Hanlin shot the informant. She was deeply disappointed that she couldn't go to Saugus with him. But even so, she did the next best thing in her eyes.  
  
For she was the one who conned Mason into going with Jack, no matter what either of them said.  
  
*There's no turning back,  
  
I know I've come so far and I've got so far to go  
  
Looking into your eyes (looking into your eyes)  
  
I'm crossing the river (crossing the river) to get to you*  
  
They give and take without knowing it and they have since they met years ago.  
  
She defends him to Mason. When he needs someone, he goes to her.  
  
He doesn't complain that she's Mason's ally. She takes him over Mason any day.  
  
She becomes a part of his family's life, not just his. And he seems to always have her at the back of his mind.  
  
Everyone else has picked up on this, especially since they came to CTU. Their daily routine has each other in it, and that shows in everything Jack and Liz do, together or not.  
  
As much as is possible for people to come together as friends, they've done so. No one can challenge that, not Mason, not anyone.  
  
*I'm crossing the river (crossing the river)  
  
And this time I'll make it through  
  
With your faith and your arms open wide  
  
I see you there on the other side  
  
I'm crossing the river of fear and pride*  
  
And now, as the clock ticks away on this 24-hour insanity? Into the future?  
  
The assault order has been given. She says nothing, doing her job without complaint or hesitation. But it is in her eyes that she feels for him. And that she also knows he's a fighter and if anyone can make it, he can.  
  
And out in Saugus, wherever he is, Jack is, even if not consciously doing so, thinking of her as well. They are channeling each other to stay strong, to stay together.  
  
They are on opposite sides of the river, but not for long.  
  
*Oh yeah, I'm crossing the river  
  
I'm crossing the river (crossing the river)  
  
Crossing the river to get to you...*  
  
"Nina, how have you figured this out?" I am often asked.  
  
The real answer is I know it because Liz and Jack are always, together, simultaneously, crossing the river toward each other, no matter what the tide. 


End file.
